Blimey, the 272 is even better than I thought it was...
Posted by: hungryhalibut on 19 October 2017
I’ve been using my beloved 272 since June 2015, with the addition of an XPSDR in autumn that year. Yesterday I installed a brand new 555 PS DR, with a new S-XPS Burndy. Rather like when I bought the XPS two years ago I didn’t try the 555 first, and when I picked it up from the shop Dan from Naim was there for a Uniti open day. All Dan said was ‘you’ll love it, even straight out of the box’. And he was right, and then some. I thought the system was sounding great before, but the 555 has moved it to a different level. The music is so much more real, leaping out of the speakers in a much more lifelike way. Everything is clearer, so you get more into the music. The speakers sound a lot bigger too, which I imagine is the impact of the power supply on the preamp. Five hours later to was sounding better still, and of course things will improve further over the coming weeks.
It’s bloody expensive, it weighs a ton, but blimey it’s good. The idea of a £6,500 power supply on a £3,500 streaming preamp is perhaps bit odd, but the combination is just incredible. I know there are a few others using this combination, and that they have said how much better the 555 makes the 272, and perhaps I underestimated how much difference it would make: now I have one at home I am very much over rather than underwhelmed, which is always good.
Huge posted:HiFiman posted:MDS posted:Apart from Trick or Treaters?
15 groups already and counting I'm about to run out of sweets!
more exercise than changing over an LP
Well you'll just have to start playing tricks on them!
I worry about my GTI parked outside a few quid spent on sweets keeps this scratch free.
The children around here are so polite. Pleasure to have them call around. Helps bring about a nice atmosphere in the community.
Where’s HH?
Emsworth
Perhaps he's out 'trick or treating' 
We are just off to the pub for curry night.
I painted a poor picture of my neighbourhood and all the kids who knocked at my door we're polite.
HH has discovered free sweets are on offer if he gets dressed up.
Hungryhalibut posted:We are just off to the pub for curry night.
Perfect cannot beat a trip down to the pub for a pint and a curry.
Nigel sorry to hear of your accident but delighted to hear of your recovery. Best wishes Devraj
Thanks for the reply HH,I will see how this all plays out before I make any more moves myself.
Huge posted:MDS posted:Apart from Trick or Treaters?
I blame the Americans for much of the moral degeneracy in the western world, after all they introduced the 'Trick or Treat' custom, thus teaching all children how to use blackmail and, in doing so, sanctioning the behaviour!
Hmmmm ... back in the dim and distant past where I grew up in the Isle of Axeholme we used to have "mischeif night", can't remember what date it was each year but it definitely wasn't halloween!
Phil
Just in case anyone is still interested, the 300 arrived yesterday.
I didn’t use the system last night but have been playing András Schiff’s wonderful recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations this morning. What a transformation. I have said before that when I went from a 250.2 to 300 about 10 years ago, it made the speakers seem two feet taller. Well, the same thing has happened this time, but it’s not just scale, it’s more of the ‘everything is so much more real’ effect that the 555PS provides. The piano sounds more like a piano and there is a huge lift in the way the music pulls you in. It’s really quite extraordinary. I don’t have the SL interconnects yet and the cable dressing is not complete, and of course nothing is run in, but it’s just sounding great and I’m so delighted with it, as are the SL2s. I can’t quite imagine that it’s going to get better still, and of course there will be off days as things run in over the coming months.
It’s been interesting going from the 272/250 back in summer 2015, then adding the XPS that autumn, and now going higher still, but keeping the same 272 as the source and preamp. It really is the most extraordinary box of tricks. I can’t see that I can add anything else useful really, other than to apologise in advance to those who think I say too much about the 272.
Carry on enthusing - your advocacy of the 272 (and the XPSDR) was probably a factor in taking the plunge from my previous 172XS to first a bare 272 and now the XPSDR a month ago (well that and the quite attractive deal on the previously run-in XPSDR) I would maybe not have been as quick to try stuff out and go to this level - but now I am here I am really enjoying and shall watch your new journey with interest. Though no pplans to emulate any time soon. Enjoy as a key part of your retirement as compensation for the prior hassle and ongoing limitations.
Peter
You are very kind and it’s most appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Nigel,
I'm really pleased that you're getting as much from the 272/555 + 300DR as do I. Yes it's subtle, just delightfully musical rather than displaying 'obvious HiFi credentials', but at the same time it's a very substantial upgrade.
I really do think that the 300DR has a particular synergy with the 272/555 combination.
And... it gets better over the next couple of months as well!
Best wishes
E
Hi I have compared the 272/555 with the 552/NDS/555 .......... the answer is the 272 is very very good ........ the 552 is much better again. I would say the 272 is more on a par with a 252 .... the 272 compared to 552 is slightly more laid back ..... 552 has more depth width, base control and far superior treble detail. I think the 272 is stunning value for money and can partner the best of amps even the NAP500dr.
At the Kudos 707 demo at the Audiobarn the other day they compared 272/555 using 300DR passive to 2 x 250DRs active so the passive system is the same as HH's. I was amazed at the capability of the 272 in both systems. As the active system sounded even better to these ears than the passive, it indicates to me that the 272 has potentially even more to give beyond being used with the 555PS and 300DR.
That is truely scary considering the obvious limitations of a one box streamer/DAC/pre amp.
I wonder who will be the first to try out a 272/PS555DR/500DR?
Maybe, just maybe this streamer/pre amp concept really does have legs and if Naim can further improve the shielding/screening of the delicate components from learnings from the new Uniti range, we really could see a 372 or even a 572.
HH, glad you are enjoying the 555DR and 300DR and, no you are not annoying anyone in this household banging on about the 272 because I have heard what it is capable of with my own ears. The only thing that is irritating me is the lure of the 555DR and the 300DR but you can't be blamed for that. Damn that wretched upgradeitis, and I have had my jab too!
Keep posting HH, fascinating stuff.
Congrats HH, if there is such a thing as synergy between amp and speakers SL2s and NAP300 is the closest I have come to it! Enjoy
Joppe, it’s funny you should say that. I was talking to a Naim dealer recently and they said that in their view the 300 is the minimum requirement for SLs to work properly. And they are certainly thriving on it. It’s only five watts more powerful than the 250, but is so much better it’s laughable. It’s like the music has been released. Thinking back how pleased I was with the SL cables, the improvement going from XPS and 250 to 555 and 300 is hugely greater than cables, and shows very clearly how the boxes should come first.
I’ve had a couple of hours listening today, to all sorts of music. Isang Enders’ solo Bach cello was just extraordinary with the cello sounding so real, in a way it didn’t before. A blast of The Human League’s wonderful Love Action at high volume was just wonderful, with so much drive, coupled with absolute control. And on Gang of Four’s Return the Gift album, where they rework old tracks was just brilliant, with all sorts of details I’d not heard before. I’m now listening to The Joy of Living, a tribute to the wonderful Ewan MacColl. The Unthanks are playing on one track and the sound is just extraordinary, with the interplay between Rachel and Becky laid bare.
It’s just completely, utterly, brilliant. With apologies to anyone thinking of a 555 or 300 I’d say do it, if you can afford it. I’m still using the standard din to XLR leads, and hopefully the SL wires will arrive in the next few days, along with the longer speaker wires. At the moment the wire to the left speaker is draped across the hearth most inelegantly.
Everyone likes a happy ending, nice to see that the upgrades are initially exceeding your expectations. For me, after too many years in the wilderness, with no hifi, it’s great to be hearing music as it should. And as you have shown I have many options to improve if finances allow. Keep up the posts they are well put together and well received.
An interesting description, HH. I moved from the 250.2 to 300DR, and I know the 250.2 has a different presentation to the 250DR (which I also demo'd). As you say, the measured increase in power is quite modest but it doesn't sound like that. It's not so much that the 300 goes much louder than the 250 (though it might), for me it was the very obvious effortlessness with which the 300 delivers. Using a car analogy, it was like going from driving a 2-litre at around 70 mph to driving a 3-litre V6 at the same speed and the feeling that the latter has a relaxed feel with lots in reserve. With the 300DR I felt the sound relaxed but the swing in dynamics etc was if anything quicker. I also found an clear increase in detail.
Unlike some Naim kit, I didn't think the 300DR had much of a run-in period, though I know you will also have that factor to weigh when you get the new SL XLRs.
Do keep us posted.
I was surprised when I demoed the 300dr I now own. It’s easy to think it’s just to provide more power than other amps and that it might be overpowering but it’s not like that at all. Mine provides a very controlled tight sound with an iron grip on my s400 speakers. It’s great for low level listening when the kids are in bed.
HH
you are lucky enough to jump to the 555/300DR in one step,yet if I end up doing it,it will Definitely be done in 2 steps...I have 272/XPSDR/250dr into Dyn special 40s.At this point,can you suggest which one to do first?,I know you just got them,but is there a new upgrade path direction to follow?I have ruled out Superlumina for now,and the Hugo 2 I am demoing,has proven to be VERY frustrating,so I think it is out.The 555 and 300DR are both a lot of money for me,I guess the question is,what is better...272/555/250DR or 272/XPSDR/300DR...?
Traditional thinking would say 555 first. And it makes sense as you upgrading both the digital source and pre-amp.
Regards,
Lindsay
I would suggest listening to both combinations and trust your own ears rather than the opinions of others.
I was planning to do one or the other and thought long and hard about it. I decided on the 555 because, as Lindsay says, it’s source first. I suspect that the 300 makes more difference to my SL2s and I don’t know how the Dynaudios compare in terms of what they need to really make them sing. But of course, the 300 is building on a much better foundation with the 555 in place. If it were me I’d go with the 555. Remember that it doesn’t come with a Burndy but of course you don’t need an extra shelf, so it’s swings and roundabouts.